Rubbie Chavez
Staff Writer
The La Verne swimming and diving teams hosted the Winter Collegiate Swim Invitational for a three day event from Nov. 21-23 at East Los Angeles College.
The Leopards went on a tear, breaking records, posting personal bests and showing early season promise.
Freshman standout Jordan Clarke delivered one of the meet’s biggest highlights, setting a new program record in the 100-yard individual medley and securing her place in the record books just months into her collegiate career.
“Today I set the record in the individual medley. I went a 1:01 and the previous record was a 1:02,” Clarke said. “I’m only a freshman, so I’m really happy that I got it already. The past two meets I’ve been really close, and today I got it. So I’m really happy with this meet.”
Clarke’s confidence reflected the team’s overall momentum. She said the Leopards fed off each other’s energy all weekend.
“A lot of people have been making finals, and our relays have been really fun,” Clarke said. “As a team, we’ve been very positive about this meet.”
Another swimmer making an early-season impact was freshman William Roby Unkovich, who competed in his first meet of the season after transitioning from the water polo team. Despite the shift, he posted strong times and said the weekend gave him optimism for the months ahead.
“I think I did pretty good. It’s my first meet of the season. I just came out of water polo, and I’m doing pretty good,” he said. “Hopefully I drop some seconds on my 100 and my 50, and I think I’ll do that.”
He said the team’s depth and training have positioned the Leopards to be competitive throughout the winter.
“My team, I think we’re going to hopefully do really well in SCIAC. We’re pretty solid, and I’m excited to see where the season goes,” Unkovich said.
Freshman swimmer Augustine Ramon-Gutierrez also had a standout meet, posting personal records on all three days in multiple events. He said the improvement felt rewarding after months of preparation.
“I feel like I did good. PR’d the first day in two events. Next day, PR’d in a different event, and today PR’d in the event I did on the first day,” Ramon-Gutierrez said.
Head coach Pat Skehan said the team’s progress at the meet was even more impressive given its timing early in the season.
She emphasized that the Winter Invitational serves as a benchmark for what swimmers can achieve in longer championship style meets compared to regular dual meets.
“I thought they really stepped up and improved,” Skehan said. “We had a ton of lifetime bests. We had almost 100% season bests. We set some new varsity records.”
She highlighted Clarke’s individual medley record as one of several major steps forward.
“This is a good learning meet for us,” Skehan said. “Now it shows us what we know, what we can do and what we need to work on as we get ready for the SCIAC Championships in February.”
Fatigue was inevitable throughout the three-day event, but he said the Leopards stayed focused and energized.
“Even though we’ve been doing this for three days straight and we’re all exhausted, we’re still keeping up and doing good,” Ramon-Gutierrez said. “We’re not falling off as the days go by. We’re just getting progressively better.”
Looking ahead, he said the optimism shared throughout the squad.
“I feel like I will do good with more practice and drop even more time,” Ramon-Gutierrez said. “My team, I also feel like they will do really good, especially with our teamwork and relays.”
The Leopards will go against Chapman for the first meet of the new year at 11 a.m. Jan. 3 at the La Verne Aquatic Center.
Rubbie Chavez can be reached at rubbie.chavez@laverne.edu.
Rubbie Chavez is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations, and a staff writer for the Campus Times. She is also a dedicated photographer for La Verne Athletics, and her passion for storytelling and sports through dynamic visual content. Her work can also be found on Instagram or at gfxbyrubbie.myportfolio.com
